


King Of New York

by Santa_Fe



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 22:36:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11427666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Santa_Fe/pseuds/Santa_Fe
Summary: Manhattan's School For Boys, Sean Conlon was being forced to go. He had been kicked out of every school in Brooklyn already. Which mostly had to do with him being a widely known gang leader who owned all of Brooklyn. Luckily, this preppy school in Manhattan had never heard of Sean Conlon, mainly because in Brooklyn he's just known as 'Spot'.





	1. Spot's New School

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter is just getting to know some the characters a bit  
> [This chapter focuses from Spot's perspective]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just introducing the characters mostly and told through Spot's perspective

Manhattan's School For Boys, Sean Conlon was being forced to go. He had been kicked out of every school in Brooklyn already. Which mostly had to do with him being a widely known gang leader who owned all of Brooklyn. Luckily, this preppy school in Manhattan had never heard of Sean Conlon, mainly because in Brooklyn he's just known as 'Spot'.

It was his first day there and he had to wear a stupid uniform that he hated, a dark blue, cotton suit with a lame ass tie. He was going to look like such a priss, he prayed no one would recognise him. Spot tucked his key necklace under his shirt, refusing to take it off despite the strict dress code. Since he had to walk from Brooklyn all the way to Manhattan, Spot was late on his first day by about an hour, causing him to skip first period entirely.

Once he walked in, a guy was at the front desk, he looked like a stereotypical librarian. "Name?" Spot rolled his eyes at him before sighing at having to say his real name.

"Sean Conlon," the guy typed at his computer for a minute, then looked back up to Spot, eyebrows raised.

"And why are you late?" His head was cocked to the side. Spot tried to fight the urge to punch him because he knew he couldn't get kicked out of this school. Having an education gave him an advantage to other gangs and helped him to gain all of Brooklyn.

"I had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to get here," Spot replied with heavy annoyance. The guy blinked a few times, surprised a student would walk so far by himself, especially without ruining his uniform. Suddenly, the man noticed Spot's heavy accent and nodded, typing again.

"Oh..you're new? Hold on, let me get your schedule," Spot rolled his eyes again, he'd done this enough times to be tired of it. Now he'd have to learn the layout of the school so that he'd be able to get anywhere. The man was gone for almost ten minutes before he returned with a lamented piece of paper. "Oh! By the way, Mr. Conlon," Spot groaned, "it's second period." He didn't acknowledge him, instead he left for room 207 for History.

He wandered the hallways for a while, he found himself at 190, which meant he was probably close. Spot was about to give up when a boy walked out of the bathroom, which was right behind Spot. "You lost or somethin'?" The kid asked, Spot turned around, his first instinct was to fight, but he reminded himself he couldn't get kicked out.

"What do you care?" Spot glared at the boy defensively. The other boy just laughed, clearly he had no idea who he was talking to.

"Just don't want you to look like an idiot is all, name's Tony but my friends call me Racetrack," he held out his hand.

"The hell kind of a name is that? Why the fuck would they call you Racetrack?" Spot questioned, raising an eyebrow, his accent seemed stronger now than only a few minutes before. The kid laughed again and put his hand down.

"They say I got a gambling problem, maybe I do, all I know is when I'm at the races, the adrenaline, oh man it's unbelievable. Anyway, what about you? What's your name?" Racetrack questioned, smiling.

"Sp-Sean, Sean Conlon," Spot decided to not let everyone know about being the leader of Brooklyn just yet. "Do you know where I could find room 207?"

"Yeah, it's upstairs, all the 200 rooms are, any room with 100 is the first floor." Spot nodded, thinking that it was a stupid system, what kind of school starts counting at 100?

"Uhh, thanks, I guess." Spot was never good at goodbyes, most of his aren't this casual.

Spot walked into his second period, he was now about 20 minutes late. Every student in class stared at him, "I'm new, couldn't find the room.. or the building." Spot explained, shrugging. His face showed complete anger even though no one had said a word. He sat down next to a boy in the third row with nice hair.

"You must be Sean right?" The teacher asked Spot, who responded with a quick glare and a single nod. "Welcome to Manhattan's School For Boys," the teacher looked like he was in his early 20's and yet  
he was wasting his life here. He also made everyone introduce themselves, all Spot learned from it though was that the kid with nice hair was named Bumlets.

The period passed by somewhat quickly, probably because Spot had been so late. He looked to his schedule, room 113, which meant it was on the first floor according to that kid he'd met earlier. Spot looked for the stairs he came from to get to second period.

It didn't take him long to find room 193 since it wasn't far from the bathroom. When he walked in there was a boy there with a bag full of books, most weren't even for school. Another boy was exchaning weed in the corner of the room since the teacher wasn't there yet.

The boys in the corner noticed Spot staring and walked over. "Skittery," the taller one said holding a pack of cigarettes filled with weed. Spot raised an eyebrow at the boy. The taller boy's tie was loose and barely on, the shorter boy's was undone completely. Their clothes were sloppy, neither of them wore their ugly, dark blue jackets over their white button up shirts.

"Excuse me?" Spot, who looked tiny compared to the two, looked the boy up and down, the teacher walked in, interupting the conversation.

That didn't stop the taller kid from talking, "Name's Skittery, this here is Itey." Spot wondered why everyone at this damned school had such weird ass names, he decided to sit next to the kid in the front row with way too many books.

"Oh hi, I'm David, nice to meet you." David held out his hand, but Spot ignored it. "You're new right?" David put his hand down, "I've never seen you here before." Spot turned to the boy and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm new, why's everyone care so much?" David blinked a couple times, obviously shocked at Spot's response.

"Well-well, um.. I think it's just to-" David was cut off by Spot, who was growing more annoyed each time the boy spoke.

"David you said your name was?" The other boy nodded, "Seems more like a Walkin' Mouth to me." Spot retorted looking up to the teacher who seemed like he was finally ready to start the class.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to pick up some paperwork and it took longer that it should have," he looked up and saw Spot sitting in the seat next to David, "oh, you must be Mr. Conlon, everyone this is Sean." The teacher sat down, adjusting his tie, "Mr. Conlon welcome to English class."

Everyone took out their notebooks, the teacher started talking about some book Spot had never heard of. The Quiet Children by, Arthur Kremell, about some mute kid and some other bullshit Spot didn't care about. David leaned over to Spot while everyone was reading, "I could help you catch up, since we're kinda far in it and you came in the middle of the year."

Spot looked over to David, the kid who read for fun, "I think I'd rather read it on my own," David nodded, still smiling. The bell rang and Spot went to leave before being stopped by Skittery and Itey.

"You need friends right?" Skittery said, scratching the back of his head. Itey was just half smiling and nodding his head while looking at Skittery while he talked.

"What makes you think that?" Spot questioned annoyed. What is it with everyone in this school trying to talk to him?

Skittery scoffed at the question, "Well, cus you're new. Chances are, you don't have a lot of friends here right?" Spot rolled his eyes, "whatever, if you wanna sit with us at lunch we sit in the far corner with a couple other kids."

"How do you even know when I have lunch?"

"All juniors have lunch 5th period," Itey chimed in. Spot nodded, great now he had deal with everyone in his grade in one period. He nodded and left for his next period, room 236, upstairs again?

On his way up he ran into a kid with a red bandanna wrapped around his neck, which was definitely against the dress code. "Oh, sorry about that mate," The kid said brushing off his jacket, "hey, where ya headed?"

"Why do you care?" Spot sneared, the kid laughed like it was a joke.

"Name's Jack, Jack Kelly. I'll see ya later," the kid ran off. Spot shook his head annoyed. Everyone in this school is nuts. He walked into class, 'Mr. Teeves' was written on the chalkboard. 'Chemistry' was written in colourful bubble letters on the wall with a lot of pictures of beakers and colourful chemicals.

"Welcome to Chemistry, you must be Sean," this is way too weird for a private school. Although, every kid he met so far obviously didn't pay for this school. The only reason Spot got in was because of his grades at his old schools, these kids not only looked poor but they seemed dumb as hell too.

"Hey kid, it's you," Spot turned to see Racetrack walking towards him. "The new kid from the hallway," Racetrack led him over to an empty desk in the back of the room. "This is Bumlets," Racetrack gestured towards the kid next to him, "Bumlets this is Sean Conlon, you're from Brooklyn, right?" Spot just nodded in response.

"Oh yeah, new kid right? I saw him in second period with Mr. Geison." Bumlets nodded to Spot, smiling before combing his hair with his fingers. "What brings you to MSB anyway?"

"Got expelled a lot, I heard this school doesn't do a very good background check so I came here," Spot sat down onto one of the desks.

"No kidding, this is barely a private school, I don't even know how most of the kids got in. They're mostly on scholarships, I guess the principal Weasel just don't care," Racetrack joked. Bumlets laughed, they both looked to Spot, "Tell me, how'd you get expelled from that many schools.?"

"Don't worry about it," Spot tried to sound casual but a bit of anger came out as well. Bumlets blinked slightly and tilted his head, smirking a little.

"Alright-" the late bell cut Bumlet's sentence off, the teacher started talking.

"Okay class, it's time to get started, today we'll be working on a lab so grab your lab partners, Sean you can work with...whoever you're next to." He didn't even look up from her desk.

"Just work with us," Racetrack hit his shoulder and waved him towards the lab table where Bumlets sat. Spot walked over and took a seat, the teacher explained the lab, which took almost ten minutes. Bumlets came over and threw three pairs of goggles over to them.

"So, Racetrack, why don't you invite Sean to the thing after school?" Bumlets asked, smirking like he knew something Spot didn't. Spot just looked at them both with a confused look.

"What do ya say Sean? Wanna hang out with us and our friends after school?" Racetrack offered, cocking his head to the side. Spot had to think for a minute before deciding.

"I guess I could..for a little, not for long, I've got shit to deal with back in Brooklyn." Spot agreed, just barely, he didn't really want to but he wanted to know what Bumlets was smirking about.

"I get that, my family's pretty strict too," Bumlets added, chuckling. Spot rolled his eyes, he never had a real family. He lived with his cousin growing up but she was never there, maybe once a week she'd show up.

"My mom's alright, it's my dad I gotta worry about. If he found out half the things I didn't tell him, I'd be dead." It was clear he was joking but his tone shifted a little and Spot could tell he was scared of his dad.

"Why, what haven't you told him that's so bad?" Spot asked raising an eyebrow. Racetrack started shifting his weight and stuttering.

"Well, one example is-is..." he stopped to think even though one thought was clearly on his mind, "gambling. If my dad found out..." he shook his head laughing nervously, Spot nodded.

Racetrack poured hydrogen peroxide into whatever was in the beaker, Spot wasn't really paying attention. The period went by fast, Spot actually kind of enjoyed it. He checked his schedule before leaving and realised it was fifth period, lunch, downstairs.

"If you want, you could sit with us at lunch," Spot was relieved, he didn't have to sit with Skittery and Itey. That is, up until they got to the table and he realised Bumlets and Racetrack were friends with the two pot heads.

"I guess you met the other two then," Skittery said, noticing Spot. Spot noticed they were sitting really close when he sat down.

"Yeah, he says he's gonna hang out after school," Bumlets explained. That's when two kids Spot hadn't seen yet showed up, one had an eyepatch and the other was really muscular.

"Hey guys, who's this?" The kid with an eyepatch asked nodding at Spot.

"Name's Sean, and who are you? One Eyed Willy?" Spot joked, the kid laughed, the other kid stepped forward defensively but was stopped by the kid with an eyepatch.

"Mush, it's cool, I'm used to it. Besides, it was just a joke," he turned to Spot, "they call me Blink." Mush and Blink, Spot thought for a minute, everyone in this damned school had the weirdest fucking names. At least Blink was understandable what with the eyepatch.

"Mush?" Spot raised an eyebrow at the kid who had sat down.

"It's because he's such a Mushy romantic, ain't you Mush?" Skittery answered grinning.

"Shut up Skittery, you're the one with a boyfriend." Spot looked at him and Itey and suddenly realised why they were sitting so close together. Skittery responded by throwing his milk at Mush, at least it was closed. "I'm not even that Mushy, I could still kick all of your asses." Mush lightly threatened, looking at Skittery.

"I don't doubt that," Racetrack laughed, "but I dunno, Bumlets is pretty strong." Bumlets laughed, eating a chicken tender.

"Yeah but not kick Mush's ass strong, he may be a puppy but he's still a pit bull," Bumlets laughed. Spot wanted to say something but being the shortest one there he knew he'd be laughed at and he didn't feel like bragging about owning Brooklyn just yet.

"So Skittery, you and Itey pick a date for the wedding yet?" Blink joked at the couple who were in no way afraid of pda. Skittery pulled himself away from his boyfriend to throw a fork at him.

"Shut your mouth eyepatch, talk to me when you get a date." Itey laughed, Spot just rolled his eyes, what kind of private school is this?

"So, Race, where the hell are we going after school anyway?" Spot asked, begging to change the subject.

"We're going to this pretty awesome abandoned place, Itey planted some weed, Blink bought spray cans n shit and I'm bringing some food." Racetrack explained, looking around at the group who all nodded in excitement.

"And no poker, we all learned not to gamble against Racetrack a long time ago," Bumlets joked earning everyone's laughter except Racetrack's.

"Alright, alright, whatever. Fuck you guys, alright?" Racetrack joked back. As lunch went on he found out Racetrack went to Sheepshead all the time since horse races were his favourite form of gambling. Meaning Racetrack was in Brooklyn all the time and Spot never noticed, which also meant he needed to talk to some people in the Brooklyn gang.

He also found out pretty much everyone in the group agrees that Blink and Mush are secretly in a relationship but they both deny it.

Lunch passed by, Skittery and Itey barely pulled away from each other to ever say anything, Mush and Blink were mostly quiet, aside from the accusations. Bumlets, Race and Spot were the main point of conversation. Next period was a study hall in room 163 with Mr. Keiker, he figured it was better than another dumb class where he'd meet more kids who'd try to talk to him.

Unfortunately, he couldn't catch a break when a certain red bandanna wearing boy sat next to him. "Hey there buddy, how's your first day been?" The kid pulled up a backwards chair so the back was faving Spot and sat on it. Spot had completely forgotten his name. The kid registered the silence and cocked his head to the side, "Alright, you don't gotta answer."

"What was your name again?" The kid just smiled at Spot.

"Jack Kelly, and if I remember correctly, that'd make you Sean.. somethin' right?" Spot nodded and wished he had something else he could do, tomorrow he'd remember to bring an iPod, since he didn't really have a phone, and headphones. Why the hell is this jocky looking kid talking to him anyway, there's no possible way he could know Spot was tough, he was short, skinny and quiet. If anything, he could be mistaken for a nerd like that book kid, David.

"Okay, okay, I get it, you don't wanna talk. It's study hall and you wanna be alone. I gets it, but hey, if you ever wanna chat, I'll be right over there." Spot sighed in relief, at least someone here could take a hint. The Mouth could take lessons from this kid, maybe he'd learn to shut up. Spot spent the rest of the study hall sleeping, until he was woken up by the bell.

He quickly fixed himself so he wouldn't look like a mess before heading off to his next period. Art class, room 116 with Mr. Lendelly, which Spot was secretly kind of excited for. He loved art but would never tell anybody, it was always his favourite subject. When he walked in he sighed in relief since no one he knew was there. Some of the kids he made friends with weren't too bad but he didn't want people to know about his artsy side.

A kid who had a single crutch on his right side and a dumb smile crutched over to Spot. Great, more friends he didn't want or need. "Hiya there, you must be new right? Well my friends call me Crutchie cus, well, you know. Anyways, I never seen you here before, what's your name?" And he thought David talked a lot, not to mention Crutchie spoke a mile a minute.

Spot sighed, "Sean Conlon," he took a seat at the table and pulled out a pencil and his art book that he used in his old school. It was half filled but he figured it'd still be good to use. Two kids walked over, clearly trying to look tough but the blue school blazers ruined the look.

"They're Oscar and Morris Delancey, they thinks they're big shots just cus they're Principal Weisel's nephews. The only thing they's is good for is snitchin' to their uncle." Crutchie explained referencing to the tough looking kids who sat across from Crutchie and Spot.

"Well Crutchie, you see if they try anything funny with me, I won't hesitate to kill 'em after school," Spot half whispers looking at the boys. It was supposed to be a threat but the idiots weren't listening. Spot just rolled his eyes while Crutchie laughed, not like it was a joke. He laughed like he believed him and seemed almost..proud? Whatever it was, Spot was okay with it.

Mr. Lendelly walked in, his hair was long and pulled into a messy bun, he also had a very bushy beard. "Alright, we've got a new student everyone!" Spot groaned, rolling his eyes and putting his whole head into it. "Everyone this is Sean Conlon, he exchanged here from Brooklyn." The teacher walked over and put his hand on Spot's shoulder.

Spot heared some kid say, "I heard he walked here across the Brooklyn Bridge," how the hell did they even find that out, he only said it to the receptionist lady.

Apparently the teacher heard it too because he laughed, "how he got here isn't important, it's that he's here that's important." Spot rolled his eyes again, he realised this teacher was a fruitcake pretty quickly. "Now, today, since we have a new student, we're going to do whatever you believe is your best artistic ability, which for me is," he stopped to...applaud himself? Spot wasn't actually sure, "oil pastels!!" The teacher practically squealed out the words, Spot groaned.

He was still excited though, sketching was what he was best at, mostly because he practiced that the most because it's his favourite and because all he has at the abandoned motel is pencils and paper. Crutchie went for the coloured pencils. Spot decided to draw a person, so he started drawing his right hand man, 'Shifter'. Of course he'd have to tear it up after class so he'd never see it, he'd just rather draw Shifter than anyone here.

He grabbed the pack of shading pencils and got started on his sketch, occasionally glancing over to Crutchie, curious as to what he was making. The sketch took nearly all period, but by the time he was done, it had almost looked like a photograph taken in black and white of Shifter in the motel. He was laying in bed, one leg bent and his hands behind his head. He looked at it and signed his name, 'Sean Conlon', even though he planned on throwing it away. He had memorized Shifter's favourite position, he'd known him for so long, it'd be impossible to not know these things about him. Spot was staring at his paper, thinking about when he was younger.

Eventually, he snapped out of his past and looked over to Crutchie's, he drew a strawberry field. Crutchie was an amazing artist. His looked real as well, Crutchie looked proud of his work, Spot was somewhat jealous, he could never use colour because it always ruined his pictures. The teacher came over and gasped, "these are beautiful, I'm taking these to be hung up," he took Spot's and Crutchie's pictures.

"Actually, Mr. Lendelly, I don't want mine hung up," Spot said, holding out his hand for his picture back. "So, could I have my picture back?" Spot was growing annoyed since the teacher hadn't handed it back yet.

"Oh no, Mr. Conlon, this is way too good to not hang up," he walked away, not letting Spot get the last word. Great, now he wouldn't get to throw it out but kids would also see Spot's art and know he's some artsy bitch.

The bell rang and Spot checked his schedule, room 206 with Mr. Hettenson for Algebra II. He walked in and sat in the back next to Skittery and prayed he'd be quiet. The teacher stood up and, thankfully, didn't acknowledge Spot but, instead, started writing a problem on the board.

"Get started on this, Sean can work with someone if you need help. Everyone else work by yourselves, you have fifteen minutes." Spot nodded and started doing his work, Skittery tapped him.

"Need 'help'?" He put air quotes around help. Spot shook his head, no. "It's not like we actually gotta do work," Spot rolled his eyes and moved his chair over.

"Alright, what?" Spot attempted to talk while doing his work, although Skittery talked for most of the period. Spot got his work done and pretended to pay attention to him by responding every once in a while.

The last few minutes of class were kids hanging out and talking, waiting for school to end. Spot and Skittery waited for the rest at the front of the school. Luck would have it that Jack saw them and walked over. Skittery noticed before he got there and elbowed Spot, "you're friends with the cowboy?" Skittery whispered on disbelief. His face showed somewhat of disgust or surprise of some sort? Spot wasn't really sure, but it was clear these two probably didn't get along.

"Sean Conlon, what are you doin' with this pot head?" He laughed looking at Skittery, "first day here and you're already making the wrong friends." Jack looked Skittery up and down trying to look intimidating.

"Yeah okay, at least I don't leave my friends to become a jock, remember Racetrack? Remember being his friend? Or did you block out the memory after gaining popularity at this shit school?" Skittery defended stepping forward.

"Good thing I did, if I knew he'd become friends with dirtbags like you I'd have dropped him sooner." Jack spat at the taller boy. Spot watched, not taking sides just yet, he'd wanted to learn more about these kids before standing up for them.

"The things Racetrack said about you are true, what a dick," Skittery walked away, Spot shrugged to Jack and just walked away. He could take that whatever way ye wanted, Spot was neutral but still had plans to hang out with them after school.

They saw Itey first, who ran over to Skittery. Once they met their mouths interlocked and Spot stepped away from them a bit. Racetrack came soon after, then Bumlets, then Blink and Mush. "You guys ready to go?" Spot asked, crossing his arms.

"We're not gonna change first?" Blink asked, his voice cracking a little. Spot chuckled softly and shook his head.

"Okay but if I'm goin' across that bridge I'm not coming back." Spot laughed, smirking. Bumlets laughed and hit his shoulder.

"Look, a rare sight, new kid, Sean Conlon, making a joke, and laughing!" Bumlets said in his best Australian accent. Everyone laughed, even Spot who was warming up to these guys. They were somewhat childish but it was a break from the seriousness of Brooklyn. Itey and Skittery managed to pull away from each other long enough for them all to walk to the abandoned building, when they got there, Spot's mouth dropped.


	2. The Abandoned House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Racetrack's point of view

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is done with the Newsies (1992) characters, not the Original Broadway Production (other than Romeo of course).

Racetrack noticed Sean acting off, he wasn’t sure why but he did want an excuse to hear the new boy speak again. “Hey Sean, everythin’ alright? You look like youse seen a ghost..” Sean turned quickly at Racetrack.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” Sean replied quickly, Racetrack thought he might be hiding something but dropped it and followed Itey into what used to be a living room. The boys visited the abandoned place a lot, it was almost their safe haven from the beasts at school.

Racetrack noticed Sean’s distracted glare, his eyes were still, staring blankly at whatever was in front of him. Racetrack wondered what lay deep in the Brooklyn boy’s brain. He had blue eyes, thin lips-

“What in god’s name are you starin’ at, huh?” Sean cut off Racetrack’s inner monologue.

Racetrack was beyond flustered, burning red down to his shoulders, “Oh, you-you just looks familiar is all. Nothin’ weird ya know, jus’ wanted to think of where I might’ve known ya from?” Sean nodded, maybe he believed it, hopefully he did, who knows what this kid might do if he found out why Racetrack was really staring at him.

Itey turned to face the rest of the boys, “Youse is ready for the surprise?” The boys hollered in response. Itey took a knife out of Skittery’s back pocket and ripped open a couch cushion to reveal 2 ounces of weed.

“Where’d you find that?” Sean asked with a weird look on his face Racetrack wouldn’t be able to describe. It looked like he was trying to be curious even though he wasn’t really? He’d figure it out later, there’s something about this Brooklyn boy that had Racetrack paying attention and it wasn’t just his light blue eyes.

“Under the floorboards! Who woulda thunk? Mary Jane, right under our noses! It sure is a dream ain’t it?” Skittery responded putting his arm around Itey. Sean didn’t respond, just nodded, Racetrack looked over at him puzzlingly.

Sean caught him, “figure it out yet, Race?” he snapped, Racetrack just shook his head.

“Alright Sean, no need to get defensive.” Blink laughed with the rest of them joining him, though Sean’s looked slightly forced. Maybe it’s just his imagination, what would Sean need to be hiding anyway?

Skittery rolled a blunt while Itey packed a bowl for them to smoke until Skittery was finished. Soon enough the world was fuzzy, Racetrack was already sky high. His tolerance was shit and everyone there knew it but Sean, though, he would soon. All he has to do is not make a fool of himself and everything’ll be fine. Not that it matters anyways. What time is it?

He checked the time, it had only been 15 minutes since they started. Even though it felt more like an hour to him.

“Guys, you know what’d make this even better?” Blink suddenly announced causing the boys to murmur to each other in anticipation, “Vodkaaaaaaa,” a very high Blink continued, followed by an uproar of teenage boys. The boys go into the kitchen of the abandoned house and search for the vodka Bumlets brought a few weeks ago.

After a few minutes of searching, Itey popped up, holding the bottle above his head in a victory stance, “Foundddd itttt,” he yells to the boys.

Racetrack noticed Sean wasn’t with them so he snuck back to the living room to find that empty too. So, he started looking around the house, where could that Brooklyn boy have gone to? He noticed the staircase and decided to check upstairs. He’d never gone up there but Mush says he had once, it’s completely empty, he said.

The first room used to be a nursery, with yellow, peeling wallpaper, some dusty toys and complete with a crib by the large window with a bench along the bottom for sitting and looking out. He’d secretly always wanted one to look out at the city but never wanted to ask his dad in fear of being laughed at. After all, that’s a girly thing, right? Focus, where’s Sean?

The second room was completely empty other than the cobwebs, hopefully the third would have Sean. Or maybe he was downstairs with the others and he was just being ridiculous. But it couldn’t hurt to check..

“Sean? What the fuck are you doin’ up here? The party’s downstairs, Brooklyn.” Sean spun around with a knife in hand, pointing the knife at Racetrack.

“Fuck,” Sean put the knife back in his sock.

“What the hell, Race?” Sean turned back around and stuffs something into his pocket. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, you’ll get yourself killed doin’ that.” Sean looked back at him before turning the rest of his body toward him.

“Sorry, but, what’re you doin’ up here?” Sean shook his head before walking toward the door, patting Racetrack’s head as he passed him.

“Come on Race, I’m sure they’s missin’ us.” Sean kept walking but Racetrack stayed planted.

“What did you put in your pocket,” he demanded this time.

“You’re high, Race,” Sean turned around to face him, “you’re just paranoid. Let’s go downstairs.” Sean started down the stairs, Racetrack knew he wasn’t gonna talk. Maybe he was just paranoid, Sean was probably just exploring the house and found something he thought looked cool. Racetrack checked the time again, he’d been up there for no more than ten minutes.

When he got back down there, Sean was drinking out of the, now, half-empty liquor bottle. He handed the bottle over to Racetrack, offering some. Racetrack grabbed the bottle and chugged several gulps.

By the time all the boys were drunk and high they’d been there for nearly two hours. Which only Racetrack seemed to notice, since he continuously checked the time, not even Sean did. Even though he said he had to be back, “Sean, when’d you have to be back to Brooklyn again?”

“What?” Sean looked up.

“Didn’t you say you had to go back to Brooklyn at some point?” Race tried to casually mention without showing that he knew Sean was probably already late.

“Oh fuck!” Sean got up and left, bolting out the door faster than lightning.

“Where you think he’s gotta be?” Itey questioned.

“Somewhere important I bet, all I know is, if I don’t leave now and show up sober when I get home, my pops’ll sure as hell beat my ass.” Mush said, getting up and heading out.

“Yeah, me too.” Blink followed. The rest of the boys, except Itey and Skittery got up and left in fear of their parents or just because the other boys were going. It was no mystery why Skittery and Itey stayed back. The whole house to themselves, plus, tons of weed, they’d probably stay the whole night.

Racetrack walked home by himself, thinking of Sean. For a Brooklyn boy, he sure was small. Most guys from Brooklyn were big and buff, but, Sean sure was intimidating. Though, even still, he couldn’t get over those blue eyes of his, or his hair and how nice he kept it.

He walked through his front door to find his house was completely empty, lucky him. He ran up to his room and flopped onto his bed.

Sean was different than the other boys he knew, probably because he grew up in Brooklyn. He pointed a knife at his face, though to be fair, it could be out of habit. Does that mean he took the knife to school or did he find it in the house? 

Racetrack checked the time, it was nearly 5:30, meaning his mom would be home any minute. 

The key jingled in the door before a creak of it opening filled the house, "Tony! You home?" His dad called from at the bottom of the steps, he was home early. 

"Yes dad, I'm in my room just finishing homework!" He lied through his teeth, searching for wherever it was that he threw his bag, unless- fuck! The bag's still a the abandoned house, maybe Skittery or Itey could.. 

_hey Skit u c my bag anywhere??_

Now, waiting for a response, if he's with Itey, it could take a while. His best bet would be, an hour and a half, if Itey's there. If he's not, no more than 10, yeah, he'd be willing to bet all his cash that if Skittery and Itey ever detached, he'd take no more than 10 minutes. His phone pinged, Skittery. 

_yea its on the couch -itey_

Alright, so technically, Racetrack didn't lose his bet, Skittery never texted back, Itey did on Skittery's phone. 

 _bring it to school 2morrow 4 me?_  

_gotcha -itey_

Alright, now he just has to trust a drunk, high and probably horny Itey, those aren't good odds but Racetrack has faith in Skittery as long as he sees the texts. Chances are he will, after all, it is his phone. Plus, Skittery would want to know what the conversation was about. 

 The door opened again, mom, "Hello?" She called out, Racetrack left his room and ran down the stairs. 

"Hey ma, how was work?" He grabbed some of the groceries out of her hand and carried them to the kitchen. 

"Busy, as always, but it keeps food on the table." She followed her son to the kitchen. Racetrack's father was leaning on the counter with a newspaper in hand. "You're home early," she says looking at Tony Sr. 

"Wanted to see you come home," he says without looking up from his newspaper, "I'm always home late for the party and miss out on all the fun you guys have." He finished, still glued to the paper in his hands. Racetrack rolled his eyes, starting to put groceries away along with his mother.

"How sweet, since you're here, would you mind helping out with the groceries?" She was completely under the man's spell, whatever that disease is called. Stockholm Syndrome? Yeah, that's it, she doesn't seem to realize everything he does to her. 

"You an' Tone look like you got it covered." He sips his coffee that was sitting right next to him. 

"Oh, alright. Well," the mom paused, "how 'bout a movie night? Since you're home tonight-"

"Are you stupid? Look at me, I'm exhausted, I'd fall asleep doin' somethin' so boring." Racetrack's hands balled into fists, guess he'd have another black eye for school tomorrow.

"Right, of course. Silly me.." Her voice showed defeat and hurt, it only fueled Racetrack's rage. 

"Did I say silly? No, I said stupid. If you were silly I'd call you silly," he looked up from his newspaper now, setting it down beside the coffee and walking towards his wife, "but you''re not silly, so I called you stupid." Racetrack stepped in front of his mother, defensively. 

"Don't touch her, I swear to-"

"What? What are you gonna do to me?" He reeked of booze already, he'd only been home for maybe 20 minutes. The dad chuckled, "What could you do to me, huh, brat?  I've beat your ass black and blue, how many times do I have to do it before you stop acting like an idiot?"

That's when Racetrack felt a train hit his lip at full speed, he touched it, blood. Racetrack kicked his father back, but it wasn't enough, it only made him angrier, just like that, another hit to his left eye. He could tell, this wasn't a fight anymore, it was a beating and the more he fought back, the worse it would be for him. But if he didn't, it'd be worse for mom, so, Racetrack kicked his fathers knee inwards. The fight continued on for ages, Racetrack's mom hid in the other room, sobbing. With every cry, Racetrack hit harder to block out the sound of his beloved mother bawling her eyes out. 

It ended with a knife in Racetrack's face for the second time that day, that's when he broke down into sobs begging his father not to hurt his mother. "Please, please don't hurt her." That's when Tony put the knife away, while his back was turned, Racetrack ran to his mother. 

"Oh honey, why must you fight with him?" 

"Why'd you have to marry him, mom?" He whispered into her shoulder.

She lifted up his head so he was looking her in the eye, "Come on, let's go up to your room. I think we should talk.." He led her up to his room, Tony was still in the kitchen drinking his  ~~booze~~  coffee. Once they made it into his room she shut the door.

"I wish you'd never met him mom." Racetrack tried to sound tough through his tears.

"If I hadn't met him, you'd never exist," she chuckled, wiping her eyes. "Besides, he's still your father." 

Racetrack rolled his eyes, "You could leave him, you don't have to put up with him you know." He begged, falling backwards on his bed. 

"It's not that easy hun, I love your father, he just has some-"

"What? Problems? Mental issues? Criminal tendencies?"

"Anger issues, he's working on them, you know that. Now then, let's get you cleaned up." She walked off to the bathroom and came back with a wet rag and a first aid kit. "Will you be alright to go to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll just tell 'em I got into a fight with some drunk bum," he smiled up at his mother. "At least that way I won't be lyin', 'cus that lyin's bad an' all." She smiled a bit before hiding it. "Lemme guess, no dinner tonight?"

"I think you and your father need some time alone. If you get hungry later tonight..." she started whispering, "there's a couple extra frozen meals in the back of the freezer." 

"Thanks ma, I love ya." 

She kissed his forehead, "Love 'ya' too Tony." She started heading out.

"Just. One more thing?" She turned around for a second, "why'd ya have to name me after him?"

"Tony.." she smiled at him before closing the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short guys, the next chapter will be longer, promise!!  
> ~  
> Comments are always appreciated!!

**Author's Note:**

> That's it! I hope you guys liked it!! I'm working on the next chapter already, I hope you guys continue to read!! Sorry for the short chapter, I'll try to make them longer as I go on!!  
> (Also, comments are highly appreciated!!)


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